“We are committed to ensuring that 2015 will be the last federal election conducted under the first-past-the-post voting system.” – Justin Trudeau (August 2015)

Canadians believe he should keep that promise.

A year-long Canada-wide consultation that included a ministerial tour, expert testimony at cross-Canada parliamentary committee meetings, town halls held in every province, and a household survey of 360,000 Canadians all point to a decisive preference: Canadians want to replace our broken and outdated electoral system with proportional representation.

It’s time for the Prime Minister to keep his promise and table legislation to make every vote count with proportional representation.

Sign the largest ever House of Commons online petition on electoral reform here.

The history

Canadians have been promised fair elections since 1919, when William Lyon Mackenzie King first committed to proportional representation.

One third of all federal elections in Canada have resulted in false majorities, where a party won a majority of seats without a majority of the votes. Some contemporary examples:

Pierre Elliot Trudeau won three consecutive false majorities in 1968, 1974, and 1980.

Brian Mulroney won a false majority in 1998.

Jean Chrétien won three consecutive false majorities in 1993, 1997, and 2000.

Stephen Harper won a false majority in 2011. With 39 percent of the popular vote, he held 54 percent of the seats in Parliament.

Justin Trudeau won a false majority in 2015. With 39 percent of the popular vote, he holds 54 percent of the seats in Parliament.

Choose PR

No party should get a majority of the seats without getting a majority of the votes. That's what keeps happening in Canada. Most countries (52%) now use some form of PR to determine how their elections translate votes into representation.PR would guarantee that any party with significant support from Canadian voters is represented in the House of Commons, proportionate to that support. PR ensures that as many votes as possible count and that election results closely match the popular vote. Learn more...

Canadians have participated in town halls and community forums across the country calling for our electoral system to be based on proportional representation. Add your voice to the call from thousands of others and tell the Government that it’s time for a fair electoral system; it’s time for proportional representation...

The way we choose our government is outdated and unfair. Canada inherited its current rules from the British Empire, rules that were used by its colonies around the world, often without choice. Even the name, first-past-the-post, comes from a very different time, referring to horse racing where the first horse to cross the finish line wins. Using FPTP, each “riding” elected one man to serve as its Member of Parliament and the winner was the candidate with the most votes. Learn more...